What causes corns and calluses?

There’s a lot of misinformation out there as far as where corns and calluses come from. Excessive pressure or continuous rubbing on parts of the foot causes corns and calluses. The reasons for this can either be due to internal or external factors.

Internal factors

These include deformities of the foot such as hammer toes – a condition which causes one or both joints of the second, third, fourth or fifth toes to be bent, resulting in the shoes rubbing against the skin. This friction often leads to the formation of corns. It could also be due to faulty foot biomechanics, i.e. the way the foot functions/moves during walking and running.

External factors

These, which include tight footwear, are by far the most common cause of corns and calluses. In fact, it’s probably true to say that the majority of all corns are caused by tight footwear – especially high heels.